Review: THE JOKER/DAFFY DUCK #1 is a Manic, yet Fun Ride

This crossover between Daffy Duck and The Joker is one fun ride!

The Joker is one of, if not the, most infamous villains in DC Comic. He is a villain that strikes fear in many superheroes hearts due to his sadistic chaos. In the eight decades of his publication, Batman has never been able to take down the Clown Prince of Crime permanently. Now we have a Looney Tunes crossover that has him going against Daffy Duck. I always saw Bugs Bunny fitting in a book with Joker, instead of the butt-of-the-joke Daffy. Maybe this book will make me realize there’s more potential here than I initially thought. So how will Looney Tune’s favorite duck interact with this madman?

**Some Spoilers Below**

Story:

Daffy Duck lives a relatively simple, peaceful life away from the darkness of Gotham City. When the Acme Corporation doesn’t answer his questions on a product’s warranty, he decides to confront them. He arrives at the closest location, which appears to have been closed down for many years. As he heads inside, he realizes it is far from abandoned, as it is now the secret lair of The Joker. Daffy tries to get out, but the henchmen capture him and present him to the Clown Prince of Crime. Before the Joker has a chance to pull the trigger, Daffy lies and says he’s his new henchman. Joker believes the duck’s claims, mainly because he gets a good laugh from him, and has him work.

I had a lot of fun with this book. The interactions between a desperate Daffy and the Joker actually had me chuckling. The high point of the issue would have to be when Daffy takes leadership over the rest of the henchmen. In his usual screwball manner, he completely reorganizes the henchman and the headquarters itself. If it were any other villain, they’d just kill him. However, as expected from the Joker, he loves the chaotic nature of it all, and the pair ends up being two peas in a manic pod, and I loved it.

While it is fun, it’s the kind of fun you would have on a roller coaster. It’s thrilling, but the feeling fades soon after you step off the ride. This was clearly not meant to be a deep, thought-provoking comic, but a fun one.

Art:

Brett Booth illustrates this zany story, and it looks “thpectacular!” The one worry I had going into this was how he was going to fit Daffy into the world of DC. The biggest challenge the artists of these crossovers are trying to fit the cartoonish Looney Tunes into this more realistic world. Booth does a masterful job in integrating Daffy, keeping close to his original appearance, while changing it to fit the more realistic world. The Joker also looks fantastic in action, especially during his attack on a picnic at the end of the story. It’s big, silly, but also dark, fitting for Batman’s oldest enemy. The book looks wonderful. What else can be said?

Conclusion:

This issue was a fun little crossover between characters I never thought would fit. The art for this issue is fantastic, capturing the zaniness of Daffy and the dark acts of Joker. While the story is a fun one, it might be best to wait for this one to go on sale instead of coughing up the $4.99.